Building the Fence Houses 21t hopper Part One

Over the last few days I have been building some etched brass 21t hopper wagons using the "Fence Houses" kit, which is basically an etch that folds up into a very nice model of the prototype.

With the etch you receive a descriptive history about the prototype, an exploded diagram of how the kit goes together, along with another five pages on how to build the kit of which are very well explained, I followed the instructions to the tee and didn't find any problems with the build.

Only additional parts required are 3 hole wagon wheels & bearings, springs and axleboxes and a set of buffers all available from the 2mm Association and then some paint and transfers to complete the model.

Tools needed are a craft knife for detaching the parts from the etch, pin vice and drill bits, a couple of needle files, some 145 detailing solder and flux and a soldering iron, I went for a Antex 18w which was more than efficient for the job. I also used a Hold n Fold to make all the bends, although not essential it does make life easier.

The following is a breakdown of the build for anyone interested along with some photos, which I apologise for their quality.

The etch showing all the components to build a 21t hopper diag. 1/146

Building the body

The body basically consists of two parts the hopper body itself and the internal hopper chute.

The body sides need to be folded to shape, the bends been at roughly about 45 degree, whilst the internal hopper chute is at about 90 degree.

We now can solder the body up, this is done best by placing upside down on a flat surface and once all is square join the end to the side, the body end fits inside the body side, you can also solder the four angled corners checking all is square, but not the very bottom parts of the chutes for now, this will be done when fitting the internal part of the hopper chute. I found it best if you went around tacking it a bit at a time and checking all was in the right place, then when satisfied all was square and flat you can solder all the joints up.

I then fitted the internal part of the chute and adjusted so all was a snug fit and no gaps with the hopper body and the doors were in their closed position, once happy all was soldered in place.